Customer Reviews

2009 Rls

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So Divine Heresy has finally released their second disk. Short version it both delivers and disappoints. It's kind of like your prom date in high school. You get into the car and get to third base, life is good. You hit the hotel room and get that let down. DH have changed since bleed. They have added death metal journeyman Joe Payne on bass, and have made the controversial vocalist change. Gone is Tommy (call me Vext) Cummings, and added is Travis Neil. Tommy always came across as a Howard Jones clone, with hip hop influence. Travis Neil on the other hand has a sound that harkens to the Swedish slash throats of NWOSDM and swed thrash. On a personal note I've found I prefer Neil, though both have their flaws. The problem with Bringer isn't the vocalist it's the song writing.

Bringer of plagues comes out of the gate possessed. Face breaker is exactly what I want in an opening track. It opens with a faded in riff, wicked guitar and bass arpeggios and lightning fast double bass. It has some great changes and the clean vocals work quite well. It does sport the typical Dino solo (a quick scale and ultra fast alt picking slides). It's a killer opener, and good or bad one of the best on the disk. The battle of J Casey is solid, but as to be found on most of this album its nothing really ear catching. The intro to the title track could have been left off and you would never have missed it. The title track has its moments but still becomes predictable and familiar. The opening blast beat frenzy followed by the triplet/ double kick syncopation, the bridge riff chorus combo, insert clean vocals here. It will bang your head but multiple listens it falls kind of flat. Redefine is the same until the chorus the arrangement with the clean vocals just doesn't groove right. Anarchaos. Can you say sounds too much like Soul Decoded? It's the typical 8 string track and the first 3notes are damn near exact. The next couple of tracks blur together. It just typical triplet induced Dino. A flash here and there but nothing to write about. Darkness embedded is a tune I truly enjoy. It provides the album ballad. Some have cried foul on Travis's cleans here but I honestly love them. It also gives the album a much needed buffer. I might have dropped this at track 5. The album closes with the End begins. It's not a bad track but you have already heard the riffs before in the album and the use of auto tune on Neil's vocals at the end of the track kind of kill it.

This is a Dino and Tim frenzy. The guitars and drums dominate the mix as to be expected. Dino and Tim are without question in fine form. The problem is the songs become mundane and predictable. The overdose of palm muted triplets locked with double kick become the same. It has its moments like the aforementioned prom date but also comes with the same let down. If you wanted this to be the next Demanufacture, its not. If you wanted this to blow the doors off Bleed it won't. What it does give you is some solid tunes insanely fast drum/ guitar interplay, a few cases to snap your neck and some note worthy riffs.The lyrics are well written and there are some very catchy moments.Overall if that's what you are after and go into it with that mindset it's worth it. If not well Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture still sound pretty damned good.

Ratings

Production. 5/6
Song writing 3/6
Musicianship 5/6

Top Tracks, Face breaker, The Battle of J Casey, Bringer of Plagues, Darkness Embedded

When I first listened to Divine Heresy's highly successful and breakthrough debut album from 2007 "Bleed The Fifth", what I heard was a vicious and commanding onslaught of unrelenting guitars and pounding drums that litterally blew me away in every sense of the word, and I was quickly hooked to Divine Heresy afterwards. Now with their latest album 2009's "Bringer of Plagues", Divine Heresy continue where they left off on their debut album and bring absolute aggression and annihilation like a machine hellbent on destruction. This album is simply cold, calculating, and unrelenting with a bludgeoning and viciously destructive onslaught of hammering machine gun riffs, heart pounding drums, and commanding vocals, it's just amazing in every aspect. "Bringer of Plagues" also features the debut of new vocalist Travis Neal who replaces former vocalist Tommy "Vext" Cummings, and it's also the first DH album to feature new bassist Joe Payne. While Travis's screaming vocals may not be as aggressive as Tommy's, but he still delivers nonetheless, just listen to him during the chorus on "Anarchaos", and the intro on "Monolithic Doomsday Devices" for proof, and he also does good with the clean and melodic vocals as well. Dino Cazares's heavy, ice cold riffs will just hammer your ears with relentless fury like a machine gun that fires through your body like crazy, and he also throws in some nice solos, yes I said solos. Joe Payne's bass is somewhat drowned out throughout most of the album not that I'm complaining or anything, however he does have some moment here especially on "Facebreaker" where he throws in a cool bass riff in the beginning, and meanwhile drummer Tim Yeung pounds, crushes, and destroys behind the drums throughout with a barrage of fast, monstrous, and pounding beats, and rapid firing machine gun like double bass kick onslaughts. He is just an absolute monster on here, and this album sure proves that he never sounded better.

Highlights Included:

"Facebreaker" is a fast and insane opener that boasts an insane opening guitar riff that is quickly followed by a short but sweet bass riff by Payne and a throat piercing scream from Neal that lead into a barrage of blasting and pounding drums, double bass kicking, more insane riffing and blistering screams, and there's also a nice guitar solo thrown in by Dino as well. "The Battle of J.Casey" continues the rampage with more pounding drums, fast, surging guitars, and angry screams. We also have a great melodic sung chorus as well as a crushing breakdown of hammering machine gun riffing and double bass kicking shortly before the 2 minute mark and another nice shredding solo is also thrown in as well. "Bringer of Plagues" is another favorite of mine on here that immediately begins with Travis screaming out "BRINGER OF PLAGUES" which quickly lead into another rampaging and commanding assault of blasting, heart pounding drums and chaotic, ice cold riffing that'll beat you straight up senseless, while "Redefine" is another fast paced and crushing back scorcher that is highlighted by more of Tim's incredible double bass percussion work, and there's a catchy melodic sung chorus too. Track six "Anarchaos" (which is my favorite song on the album) is highlighted by more commanding screaming vocals, hammering, and bludgeoning riffs and double bass drum onslaughts, and a monstrous shout along chorus that will simply give you goosebumps, and there's a punishing breakdown around the 2 minute mark as well. Track seven "Monolithic Doomsday Devices", meanwhile features some excellent screaming from Travis in the beginning before going into another bludgeoning onslaught of crushing, machine gun like riffs, and blistering double bass drumming, and "Enemy Kill" just crushes throughout with more pummeling, ice cold riffing, and double bass pedal kicking, and more brutal, harsh screams from Neal to boot, while "Darkness Imbedded" is a more slower and melodic cut that greatly showcases Neal's melodic vocal skills.

Overall, there isn't even one bad song on this album, they all rule as a matter of fact. All in all, "Bringer of Plagues" is definately one of my favorite albums of 2009, and is simply put one monster of an album that will just blow your mind away from start to finish pretty much like "Bleed the Fifth". Highly Recommended!!!

BTW: Dino Cazares is back in Fear Factory now, and they released a new album called "Mechanize" just recently. Be sure to check that out too...

I figured Divine Heresy would be a one-album, one-time thing for guitarist Dino Cazares, and to my wonder this band is still kickin'. When their debut Bleed The Fifth came out I considered it to be the best Fear Factory album never made. I was taken aback by how aggressive the drums and guitars were... and still am with their sophomore effort Bringer Of Plagues. I have to say that both albums top Arkaea's Years In The Darkness, which supposedly features songs that were meant to be on a new Fear Factory album. I like both bands, but Divine Heresy is superior in songwriting, and it comes as no surprise that Cazares is allegedly back in with Fear Factory and guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers is out (and doing his Arkaea thing).

Something new with Divine Heresy is singer Travis Neal replacing the fired Tommy Vext. In my opinion Neal isn't as aggressive as Vext but still brings the hammer. The only thing I don't like is his clean vocals in "Darkness Embedded," which are kind of whiny and off key or something. It just doesn't sound right, but overall Neal is a good replacement and his harsh vocals fit in well. While I'm judging - and I hate to downplay something that's good as a whole - the bass isn't very prominent. Bringer Of Plagues is a tidal wave of pounding drums and relentless guitars. I feel like the band tries to play as fast and hard as they can, and that's where the bass becomes lost.

Like Bleed The Fifth, this new material is essentially much of the same, which somehow satisfyingly makes it difficult to pick a favorite. Choose both I must! Tim Yeung is still a monster behind the drum kit. Every song is annihilated with kick drums and ungodly percussion. Dino Cazares' guitar-playing gallops and thrashes like a possessed thoroughbred. Your ear drums will be crushed into a fine powder. This album is one of my favorites of 2009 and while rumors swirl that Cazares is rejoining Fear Factory, I hope Divine Heresy isn't forgotten.

This C.D. is a must own for any metal head and in my personal opinion and alot of people i know they need to make another album asap!!

Let me start off by saying Bleed The Fifth (DH's previous album) is in my top 3 favorite albums of any genre of all time. So you can guess that I had high hopes for Bringer of Plagues, even though Tommy Vext (their old singer) is no longer in the band.

Does it live up to Bleed The Fifth? Not quite, but this by no means is a bad album.

The Bad: On Bleed the Fifth, 4/10 songs did not feature any clean vocals at all. On this album, only 2/10 songs do not have cleans. Not that I completely mind DH's change over to an overall more "clean" vocal sound, but for pete's sake, the first four songs (minus the intro) are the standard metal "scream the verse sing the chorus" formula. Vext's vocals were more diverse. Also, while I thought all songs on Bleed The Fifth were 5 star worthy, I would maybe give 4 songs on this album 5 stars. Plus "Letter To Mother" and "Enemy Kill" were not very memorable.

The Good: The production on this album is better, for one. Most of the songs on this album are very good, despite their "bad" points as I stated above. Facebreaker is the album opener and it hits you like a hammer to the jaw. Extremely fast riffage and drumming (what else would you expect from the Cazares/Yeung match made in heaven?). The next three (actual) songs are pretty good, and then we get to my two favorites. Anarchaos shows Cazares bringing back the 8 string guitar for some awesome riffs. Its primarily screaming, the chorus will definitely get fans shouting along at shows Only one verse is sung and its done so in sort of a haunting droning sort of way. Monolithic Doomsday Devices literally blew my mind. No clean vocals, another great catchy chorus, it sounds like a song you would want to exact a bloody and brutal revenge on a sworn enemy to. The ballad Darkness Embedded is very good as well. Also as a side note, DH experiments with more time changes on this album than their previous one.

Bottom Line: The only reason I am being as harsh as I am on DH's sophomore offering is because I hold Bleed The Fifth in such high regard. Bringer of Plagues will definitely be up the alley of many fans of modern metal. At times this album is a bit formulaic, and they lose a little steam as they blast towards the end, but fans of extreme metal/metalcore will eat this up.

Top 3: Monolithic Doomsday Devices(!!), Anarchaos(!), The Battle of J. Casey (this one has an awesome breakdown)

Divine Heresy's debut release "Bleed the Fifth" is a difficult album to try to surpass, since it brought forth a unique Melodic Death Metal/Metalcore mixture that combined heavy guitar riffs with intensely fast paced drum rhythms to create a truly inspiring release. With the departure of original vocalist, Tommy Vext, many assume that the band's follow up album may not be as hard and heavy as their original release. Well, new vocalist Travis Neil does not only hold up his share of the band's sound, but in many cases, "Bringer of Plagues" is actually a better album than "Bleed the Fifth".

Whereas "Bleed the Fifth" constantly assaulted the listener's ears with a barrage of yells, growls, distorted riffs, and chaotic drum beats faster than most humans can perform, "Bringer of Plagues" remains just as heavy, yet adds more melody into the mixture. The result? A truly amazing album worth listening to over and over again. The band did not abandon their original sound or style. The insane drumming of Tim Yeung is still present, and the fast paced, heavy riffs of Dino Cazares can still be found on every track. Travis Neil simply adds his own take on the band's vocal style, and the new sound is quite compelling and actually fits the band very well, despite the change in vocal style.

"Bringer of Plagues" remains at a play length very similar to that of "Bleed the Fifth", a nice, short, but sweet release that has just enough tracks that it doesn't feel like any were added simply as fillers. Instead, every track is heavy, and worth listening to. From the album introductory track "Facebreaker" which consists of high pitched growls and a clean chorus. Stand out tracks include: "Monolithic Doomsday Devices", "Letter to Mother", and "Anarchaos". All of these tracks feature the traditional sound fans have come to expect from Divine Heresy. Another stand out track on the album is "Darkness Embedded", due to the originality of the track when compared to the rest of the album. This track slows things down, providing a softer sound, slower melody, and consists of only clean vocals, no screaming/growling expect for the occasional background yell. "Darkness Embedded" is performed very well, and it shows that new vocalist Travis Neil can indeed sing just as good as most other vocalists.

Despite how well received Divine Heresy's debut album, "Bleed the Fifth" was, "Bringer of Plagues" stand right along side it, and in many cases outshines it. Neil's voice suits the band better in many cases, however, he may not sound as "heavy" as fans of the original album may like. He still provides a great range of vocals: from low growls, to higher pitched ones, even incorporating clean singing into many tracks, and having an entire song devoted to showcasing his clean voice. "Bringer of Plagues" adds variety to Divine Heresy's already intense sound, making this album a great listen, and a must have for anyone looking for a hard hitting, yet melodic CD to add to their collection.

wow this album is so fun to listen to. its so heavy yet melodic in all the right spots....the new vocalist is good but i still prefer the old one more, however, i do give him props for blending well with the music and putting on a very well done overtone. tim yeung is so fun to listen to play and dinos guitars just blend perfectly its like the two were ment to play together. this has to be one of the best super groups i have ever heard and much better than fear factory and definetly puts arkaea to shame.

....and I MAY have found it. Bottom line...it's BRUTAL. Wickedly brutal. Anyone can say all they want about Cazares, whether it be negative or positive, but the man steps up to the plate and delivers.
This is just another opportunity for him to come out and show his abilities, which are more than proven. Same can be said for Yeung....the man is not a man, no lie, I swear he's a cyborg or some [...]. I will have to say that some tunes on this make me wish they kept Vext for vocals, in my opinion, Vext was made for this music, and he's definately missed on this.
My faves on this one so far are "Battle of J Casey" and "The End Begins". I have to give props for "Anarchaos", it has one of the most wicked breakdowns I have ever heard...when I hear it, it makes me want to Zinedine-Zidane-head-butt someone.
Overall amazingly done, I still like their first just as much, but this is building on what they've already accomplished.

Dino Cazares, the guitar smasher from Fear Factory's greatest era ("Deconstruction" and "Obsolete") has reportedly rejoined Burton C. Bell and we'll see some new Fear Factory soon, complete with drummer extraordinaire Gene Hoglan, of Death and Strapping Young Lad.
In the meantime, Divine Heresy's second effort "Bringer Of Plagues" sates the appetites of Cazares fans with a furious pounding sonic assault, driven by drummer Tim Yeoung, who drums like the Tasmanian devil on crack. In fact, that may be the only drawback as DH pound you relentlessly, when the occasional big beat would be a nice switch.
Travis Neal, the new vocalist can shred with the best of them but also provides some nice clean vocals and counter melody, which is an element sadly missing from too much extreme metal these days. Yes, some will say that grunting and roaring is extreme, but not when everybody and his dog does it. Are you listening, Randy Blythe?
DH is Cazares' band, though, and because of the insane drumming, his guitar sometimes gets obscured. Plus, he showed us on DH's first CD that he could indeed play ripping lead guitar, but doesn't seem to want to that much this time around. Don't be afraid to show your chops, Dino.
"Bringer Of Plagues" is a good CD, but I dock it one star for a mix that has too much drum and not enough guitar and a relative lack of a decent hook.

It's been a hell of a year for Dino Cazares. He and his old friend Burton C. Bell recently became best friends again years after Fear factory was reformed without Dino. Since then, it was a war of words between the former bandmates. Now, FF is back with a new lineup featuring Dino on guitar, plus Gene Hoglan and Byron Stroud from Strapping Young Lad, Zimmers Hole, and Tenet. In the meantime as we wait for this new album, Divine Heresy brought us their second offering Bringer Of Plagues, the vicious followup to their successful debut Bleed The Fifth. Many figured the first album was all they had to offer and nothing else. Well, Bringer Of Plagues is your answer. If Bleed The Fifth was their breakout album, then this is the annihilation that follows. New vocalist Travis Neal makes his presence known as more than just Tommy Vext's replacement, while Dino focuses on his guitar attack with precision and even improves on his guitar solo abilities, Joe Payne steps up his bass playing for his Divine Heresy recording debut after Dino did most of the bass on the first record, and Tim Yeung is faster and way more technical than he's ever been. All in all, if you thought Bleed The Fifth was all Divine Heresy had on the menu, then it's time for you to expand.